More Buried Treasure

I found some more cards! 

 

I uncovered another lost pile of cards that was hanging out beneath, well, other cards. This batch of baseball players came from big Orioles fan Ryan H. I believe I reached out to Ryan over the summer because the O's were among a handful of teams where I had a glut of extra cards, and he responded to my offer with some of my needs.

Topps sometimes makes poor choices when selecting photos to be featured on their horizontal cards, and I believe this is one of those times. This is a Prizm Chrome refractor, however, so it's a nice pick-up nonetheless.

Since the Stadium Club Chrome inserts are basically indistinguishable from the Stadium Club Chrome base cards (completely different set), I'm just going to go with this being one of those. If I flipped a coin over this, I might win?

After basing a set on T-206 in 2002, the following year saw Topps release this tribute to T-205. Instead of doing something similar the next year, they seem to have dropped this idea. Eventually, the Turkey Red and Allen & Ginter sets would launch, but these days they seem more focused on cannibalizing their own designs from the past.

It's that time of year once again where I declare my hope for big things out of Jack Flaherty this season. Please, just let this happen! 

Here's one of those old Topps designs that's been beaten into the ground over the years.

Ryan also sent over a bunch of set needs, including this apparently rare People on Bicycles insert from the 2013 Allen & Ginter set. I believe this is the first one of these in my collection, and judging by prices online it might have been a case hit.

I still haven't finished off the 2009 Turkey Red inserts run, but I'm slowly inching closer and closer.

Here's a pair of Hall of Fame sluggers batting from opposing sides of the plate.

This was one of my favorite Allen & Ginter insert sets in recent times, but I felt like they included too many newer players. It's more fun when you see the older players as rookies.

CardConNW '18: As I See Them

Meet up in person and exchange cards - a novel concept. 

Previously on Cards on Cards...

Next up in our look at stuff I got from dudes in a recent meetup is gcrl of cards as i see them and numerous past blogging projects. His visit to Portland was the cause for the whole occasion in the first place, as everyone else lives somewhere in the local area.

Vintage is going to be a much bigger priority of mine going forward, now that I've nearly finished cataloging my entire Cardinals collection on TCDB, so it was great to get my hands on a couple of 1961 Post cards. I'm told there are lots of variations in these older food issues, but I'm happy just having any of these at the moment.

This shiny Piscotty card takes us back to the present-ish. It's an insert from the 2017 Topps Chrome set. I don't know why I am having such a hard time keeping these straight from the inserts in the flagship 2017 Topps set (and those shiny hobby promotional cards from the same year and same design.)

This was my first look at this year's Gypsy Queen set, as gcrl snagged a couple of things from the local Target store to open at the taproom. The Cardinals miss DeJong's bat right about now.

This was also my first look at Panini's Donruss offering. The '84 throwback look is nice. The Photoshopped uniforms leave everyone cold, however.

Also included were a trio of Topps Opening Day cards, also my first. I chose the only non-injured Cardinal among them. Flaherty has looked good in his few big league starts so far this season.

Some of my set needs were also fulfilled. This old-school ATM card was easily my favorite of the lot. Is she reading the manual? I really wish I could see what her bank card looked like.

Finally, here's one of those sorta stealthy inserts from an Allen & Ginter set that Topps likes to put out on occasion. The most confusing thing about this set to me is that it's not numbered. I only have 3 of these cards to date, although it looks like the bulk of the set (if online checklists are to be trusted) could be acquired fairly cheaply from COMC. I'll have to look into this later.

So Many B's

Piles upon piles of cards from a fellow Allen & Ginter collector.

Braves fan Matt, who runs the blog Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits (hereafter referred to as BBBBB) reached out to me a couple of times this year to get ahold of some of my unwanted Ginter goods. The timing was a bit unfortunate as my Spring Cleaning deal (still some teams available! even though I guess it's fall) was well under way and I had already disposed of most of my non-baseball specific insert stuff. However, I had some Braves goodies to send back his way and just a few cards from other sets that he was collecting. It was a good trade. It was... maybe a bit lopsided. There's already a PWE on the way to BBBBB, and any Ginter extras that come across my desk will be thoroughly considered.

First of all, this is a large stack of cards, bigger than a Traded set! As much as it is one of my main goals to collect all things Ginter, I feel like you all probably don't need to see an Enny Romero or Adam Eaton base card from 2014. You'll just have to trust me on this one. Of course, the binders will be satisfied, no doubt.

Let's just dig right in to the good stuff. This is a shiny Bowman's Best card of Bo Hart, circa 2003. Bo Hart was a viral video before YouTube existed, and he left the game quicker than you can say "Gangnam Style". Still, the summer of "Three Nights in August" will always be alternatively known as "The Summer of Bo Hart".

Here's a wonderful trio of 2015 Ginter minis. Rookie Sam Tuivailala's name is pronounced something like this. He is flanked by black bordered Matt Carp and Yadi.

More Bowman's Best. Pujols looks young and mobile here. He's busting up all the record books these days, albeit in a much less mobile fashion.

I've determined that Chris Carpenter is a great player to collect on a budget (unless you want autographs, but that's another discussion.) Injuries and a relatively short career in terms of full seasons accumulated made this so, but he was a heroic member of two championship teams. He is missed.

Just a couple of days before receiving this, I actually plunked down a bunch of Listia credits on one of these. That card had a white jersey swatch, however, so this grey version is another nice addition. Of course, there's no way I'd ever trade this even if it looked identical to the one I already had. I'm weird like that.

I'm not gonna lie. I completely forgot about John Nelson. Nelson was a September callup in 2006 who appeared in more games (8) than he did in front of the plate (5), but he probably earned some World Series shares out of the experience. Good for him.

I think I've already made clear my stance on the buybacks from this year's Allen & Ginter set, but that doesn't mean I don't want them all if they have to do with the Redbirds. I just don't know how to catalog these really.

There's a lot of mystery surrounding who will be on the 25-man playoff roster, but after being MIA for most of the season there's virtually no chance Wainwright's name won't be on it. This will make the upcoming series with the Cubs/Pirates (probably Cubs) all the more exciting.

Still At It

The cards keep accumulating.

Night Owl Cards has been around almost as long as this place has, and has certainly been more prolific in all aspects of the blog game. (Is there such thing as a blog game?) Countless numbers of padded envelopes have been exchanged, and back in May yet another one of these transactions occurred. The Card Blogger Class of '08 is still alive and well!

A couple of good friends of mine quit their jobs recently and are traveling around the country, seeing all the sights. I'm terribly jealous. I'm not sure if they'll make it to McWay Falls or not (I'd never actually heard of it and I'm a west coaster) but rest assured that they've already accumulated some great stories and photos to prove it.

Someone on TV suggested that Mike Trout might not be Captain Awesome and that there may be someone who is... shock of all shocks... better than The Golden God of Baseball this year. Blasphemy?

I wish that I had acquired this card sooner. She seemed like a very remarkable woman.

This is one of those weird "baseball cards on a classic basketball card design" that doesn't make sense in anyone's brain.

Finally, it's not entirely surprising that Night Owl had a duplicate Kershaw parallel that he didn't need. His excess is my... I don't know... gain? All I know is that I can't complain about adding Wainwright #210 to my collection!

I Traded with Nachos Grande

And all I got was this lousy t-shirt. (Not pictured: the t-shirt)

I'm almost caught up with March's packages, which means I shouldn't be typing the words "caught up" at all. From longtime blogger Nachos Grande came a trading first for me: I got something functional and wearable from him in the form of a (not actually lousy) Cardinals t-shirt. As a die hard Reds fan, I can only imagine that this was used as a snot rag in his household. I would show it off, but it's buried somewhere within my laundry pile at the moment, so you'll just have to imagine what it looks like (not like this).

Chris also sent cards along with the shirt, including a handful of the good guys including this Rick Sutcliffe 1994 Fleer Ultra you see here. A lot of strange veteran names passed through the Cardinals roster during the mid '90s, like Ron Gant, Gary Gaetti, Eric Davis, Jeff Brantley, Danny Jackson, Tom Henke and, of course, Rick Sutcliffe.

The bulk of this trade was a much needed pile of 2013 Allen & Ginter cards. I don't know why, but I never put much of a dent in the Across the Years insert set. I guess it must be huge.

I already had the Ozzie Smith short print card for my The Wizard collection, but I needed a second copy for the set. Now I have it! Nice.

Thanks to this trade, I'm now more clothed than ever, and I only need 3 more One Little Corner cards!

Four Cards in Five Words or Less

Minimum verbosity.

Inka binka, bottle of ink.

Always injured.

Two-time All-Star.

Best player in the NL.

Thanks to 2x3 Heroes for another mighty fine PWE!

Good Enough

Brock Peterson was good enough to get a Major League Baseball card.

It's a frequently used term that can be rather derisive. The whole concept of the quad-A player, a guy who has nothing left to prove in any of the minor league's levels yet isn't a great fit with a big league crew, isn't the nicest thing in the world. We used to have AAA ball in Portland, though, and these were usually the most exciting players you'd see come to the plate. Brock Peterson finally got his shot at age 29 when he spent some time with the Cardinals, but he's back in the minors this year in another organization.

Mark Kaz from This Way to the Clubhouse sent me some cards, including the gold encrusted card of the fairly anonymous Brock Peterson. He was also responsible for what I'm fairly certain is my first 2002 Topps Chrome refractor. I made fun of refractors and their very idea when I first started this blog, but I can't help but love the shiny little devils.

I have no idea what is going on with this design. This might work on a giant poster on someone's wall, but it makes no sense on a card that's only a few inches in any direction.

Had Jesus Montero not been promoted aggressively as some sort of catcher, would it be safe to say that he may have found himself in a similar position as Brock Peterson. He's now a 1B/DH type, even in AAA, and I haven't heard any buzz about Seattle wanting him back any time soon. This card fills a nice short printed size hole in my collection, however.

Hey, it's the Pope, sans Popemobile. More Ginter cards for me! Thanks, as always, to Mark Kaz.

Another Fine Stack of Cards in My Mailbox

I like cards with players on them.

Jeff from 2x3 Heroes has been a frequent source of mailbox stuffing goodness in the past, and this most recent package was no exception. I received bunches of Cardinals cards, some shiny things, a stack of set filler and even a high end card for Erin. So many things!

Brandon Dickson made a few big league appearances on the mound over the course of a couple of seasons, but he was largely forgettable. In fact, I forgot that he left the team to play in Japan after 2012. This is a Walmart parallel, and I recently made the mistake of going to a Walmart for what is likely to be the last time in my life. The card selection in the only store in Portland's city limits is pretty sad, but not nearly as sad as the feeling you get when you set foot in the store itself. This last time there was seriously a partially eaten slice of pizza on the shelf in the always chaotic toy area. I couldn't even bring myself to buy a single thing despite surviving a downpour to get to the store. It's dumb. Walmart is dumb. Don't shop there. Unless you are planning to find a bunch of blue Cardinals cards for me, of course.

Cards like this are always a dicey proposition. Shelby Miller very much looks and seems like a promising young pitcher who may go on to do great things wearing the Birds on the Bat, but he could also turn out to be the second coming of Bud Smith. I like the pennants on the design, though. Nice touch.

Okay, now I kind of feel like an entitled jerk, wearing a monocle in my thousand dollar pajamas while I type this post after my Walmart rant. In many places, Walmart is one of the only options for purchasing groceries and sundry items. And in a matter of far less serious importance, it also is often one of the only outlets for purchasing baseball cards. If you live in such a place, I won't judge you. And I still want your blue Cardinals cards. And Target is probably just a cleaner, brighter Walmart anyway, right? Meanwhile, I'll be sleeping on piles of ruby colored ice parallels like this Trevor Rosenthal card and chucking gold coins at the neighborhood rugrats.

Catchers in their full catching gear really do make the nicest unlicensed cards. Panini should just make a whole set of them and no one would be the wiser. Except that they were all catchers, of course.

As promised, here's the fancy schmancy card for Erin's collection. I know, it's just a... yawn... base card that's... zzzz... not even serial numbered. But this is fancier than we usually get here.

A least half of the pile of cards I got from Jeff was from last year's A&G set. There's a paintballer in this set. Apparently that's the type of thing you can do for a career? Seriously?

This card is just an excuse to post a link to this video: